<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>A Quick Escalation by Nocturnalchild</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23333317">A Quick Escalation</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nocturnalchild/pseuds/Nocturnalchild'>Nocturnalchild</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Adam Driver - Fandom, Marriage Story (2019)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Awkward Crush, Awkwardness, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Crushes, Embarrassment, F/M, Fluff, Happy Ending, Love, Love Confessions, Shyness, Sleep Together, Sleepy Cuddles, Temporarily Unrequited Love, Watching Someone Sleep, doubts</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 06:29:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,328</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23333317</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nocturnalchild/pseuds/Nocturnalchild</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Christmas Eve.<br/>and a snow storm<br/>and Charlie Barber </p><p>and </p><p>You</p><p> </p><p>  </p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Charlie Barber/Reader, Charlie Barber/You</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Quick Escalation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello everybody ! </p><p>This is my first story here ! </p><p>Enjoy ! </p><p>I'll appreciate your feedbacks and kudos ;*</p><p>Many thanks to adams_song for her help and love &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
</p><p> </p><p>White cotton patches of snow started to gather in every corner of the street. The old theater’s structures were whining above your head as a merciless wind assaulted the building.  The theater was colder than ever that evening. You were employed there as a secretary and you were trying to finish the load of work you had before holidays and that meant staying later than ordinary.</p><p>But staying late was about to be a problem.</p><p>All through the last hour, snow started to fall heavily with strong nasty wind and you heard that your bus trips were already cancelled and started to worry because if it was the case, how could you make it to your apartment on the other side of town?</p><p>Most of the theatre staff and actors waved goodbye, in a hurry to start their Christmas holidays.</p><p>But there was Charlie, in deep discussion with someone and both seemed not in a rush at all.</p><p>Charlie is the Director of the theater you work in. You’ve always had a thing for him.</p><p>You saw him going through a divorce.</p><p>You saw him dating one of his troupe actresses.</p><p>You saw him breaking up with her.</p><p>And you saw yourself never having a tiny chance with him. You didn’t know him after all.  You were just the secretary and he was nice to you, as a good natured man is nice to everyone.</p><p>“Hello Mr Barber”</p><p>“Hello y/n? how’s it going?”</p><p>“ Great , how are you?”</p><p>“ Good, depends, bad if Rob shows up today “</p><p>You appreciated his rare inside jokes, and that was all.</p><p>And that was all, everyday.</p><p>And now here he was standing, ready to leave at last, and you looking at him, clearing your voice to wish him a joyous Christmas and at that very moment, your phone rang.</p><p>“ Hey Jane “</p><p>“ Hi, potato… bad news, if you still at work catch a cab now!  It’s a hell here on the subways side… mayhem…big delay for all trips.  I just got Chad to pick me up … I ‘m so sor- …”</p><p>And the signal went off.</p><p>“ Jane ! Jane ! hello! Do you hear me? What do you mean trips are cancelled? Where are you?”</p><p>Jane was your best friend and you knew that you couldn’t count on her to spend Christmas nights with you anymore since she got a boyfriend, but at least, at the very least, you expected to see her tonight, just for a moment, just to share a kiss and a merry Christmas, just like good old times.</p><p>You knew it. You should have left work earlier. To hell with work. Now you are stuck. You stole a look outside, it was really a hell of a snowstorm. How could you even catch a cab in those circumstances?!</p><p>You sighed deeply, trying to calm a starting panic lump in your throat. True, you were alone in this world, no family near you to pass Christmas with, but it was Christmas after all and you just wanted to be warm in your living room, watching whatever silly romance movie on Netflix, a glass of wine in hand. You had the right, no?</p><p>Drowning deep in your pit of misery, you didn’t notice the tall man that was Charlie, always standing just few inches from you, a visible confusion to what he should do.</p><p>“Is everything ok?”  He talked in a low voice.</p><p>He had heard everything.</p><p>“Mr Barber !...eh.. yes, yes ! Of course, have a wonderful holiday, merry Christmas! ”</p><p>You hoped your voice was composed and cheerful; it was a weird mix that made you sound hysterical instead.</p><p>He didn’t reply and kept looking at the chaos outside for a moment as a man hesitating about a decision. Weighing up the pros and cons.</p><p>When he spoke it was in a hesitant kind voice that broke your heart a bit more.</p><p>“ I can drop you off by your street ..if that doesn’t bother you of course”</p><p>Were you dreaming?</p><p>No, because a cold airstream coming from the open entrance door slapped you right on the cheek and you blinked, your mouth trying to find a decent reply to give the man.</p><p>“ ..only if that doesn’t bother <em>you</em>..”</p><p>“No, not at all” he looked resolute and you crossed your fingers hoping he didn’t notice you blushing like a teenager before him as you thanked him awkwardly.</p><p>And like that you were in his car, seated in the front; him just afew inches away from you. You could feel his heat radiating from his woollen jumper. You could see his hand on the wheel, big, strong, thick long fingers, just like the rest of him, his other hand moving slowly and with ease on the gearbox, and you tried hard to suppress the need to make the biggest mistake of your life and touch it, running your much smaller hand on his…</p><p>“ So where do you live?” You heard him say after the car was engaged in the main avenue.</p><p>“ euh.. the other side of town… “</p><p>Very informative. Even giving your address was a hard task to do all of a sudden.  </p><p>You saw him wincing visibly, the traffic was already not moving and you were only few streets away from the theater.</p><p>“Not your way? I’m so sorry… you can maybe just drop me near the next subway entrance?”</p><p>You felt like you were melting in your seat from embarrassment.</p><p>“ No, no, we are moving, we’ll make it, don’t worry for now”</p><p>And as to reassure you he gave you a small side smile, looking at you for a brief moment and you looked down, because, where else could you look.</p><p>You wanted to ask him if it was ok, if he wasn’t late for whoever was waiting for him at home, if you weren’t intruding too much but you thought better of keeping your mouth shut and let yourself be distracted by the beautiful contrast of snow falling, red and yellow lights of cars and the few pedestrians struggling to keep their hats on their heads.</p><p>You were zoning out for an hour now. At first Charlie engaged small talk to distract himself from the irritating slow traffic, but then an hour passed by and it seemed that he ran out of ideas and you were feeling more self-conscious with each passing minute.</p><p>It was starting to get ridiculous, so ridiculous.</p><p>When he spoke finally in a tired sigh, you were on the verge of a breakdown.</p><p>“ I think my calculations were a bit … imprecise after all”</p><p>“ I’m really, really sorry …” and you were , you were too much . You dreamt all those past few years of spending a little time with him, but not like that, not like that, definitely not when you were obviously just a burden.</p><p>“ I’m not accepting apologies anymore” He joked and smiled again, comforting. No, you didn’t expect him to be that…nice.</p><p>“ Where do you live Mr.Barber?” Your curiosity got the best of you.</p><p>“Two blocks away from here..and I’m starting to think if I can offer you a shelter for tonight.”</p><p>The car was literally shaking because the wind was blowing with such force now, you saw the tree trunks shivering and heavy snow flakes falling from their branches, joining the grayish ones of the street. You gasped, but not because of the cold.</p><p>What did he just say?</p><p>“...”</p><p>Your mouth refused to utter an intelligible word. And you saw him …panicking?</p><p>“ I really don’t want you to get in trouble tonight. It’s holidays and it’s really unfair to have to be that late outside… alone …is there anyone you can call?” He was trying to justify himself.</p><p>“No…they are not here” you just stated, always trying to process where all this would lead you tonight.</p><p>Charlie stayed silent for long seconds, and you thought seeing a veil of sadness covering his eyes for a moment. You didn’t want pity; pity was the last thing you wanted from him. So you just squeezed the hem of your coat and bit on your lip.</p><p>“ Would it bother you too much if you stayed in my apartment for the night?” he seemed to pick his words carefully.</p><p>He was about to turn on an alley and you understood that you had to think quickly, so you just nodded, not believing anything you were doing, anything that was happening, living it like in a dream.</p><p>The apartment seemed pretty vast, with walls painted in warm creamy shades. The furniture was minimalistic and functional. You could see the living room from the entry hall, as Charlie closed the door behind you. </p><p>His apartment wasn’t just spacious; it was empty, and silent. You were prepared mentally to greet someone, his partner, his brother, his son? But nobody was there. Your heart sank. So, was he also alone? with no one to greet him on a holiday night?</p><p>“Come in please” he helped you with your coat and you both paused for a second, as you looked at him with an understanding smile.</p><p>“ I’m sorry for Christmas dinner, have nothing but leftovers…but-” you couldn’t hear him when he disappeared in the kitchen while you took a seat in the living room as he indicated.</p><p> “ I got this!”</p><p>He was holding a bottle of red wine and two glasses, the apologetic smile on his face reached his eyes, pretty half crescents.</p><p>You couldn’t be more thankful.</p><p> </p><p>As the wine flowed, tongues loosened.</p><p> </p><p>His sofa was cozy, and you quickly found an angle that made you feel like you were home. And as he was facing you, arm loose on the couch, talking about his last play script that he was struggling to finish, your nervousness disappeared.</p><p>He talked a lot because you asked him, you just asked and asked, you wanted to know everything, and as he talked and talked, low, deep voice filling the warm room.You didn’t want to get drunk tonight, you wanted to remember every word, every intonation, every laugh. So you did.</p><p>You both avoided the sensitive subjects, you didn’t talk about your loneliness, and he didn’t talk about his divorce, his absent son or any of the bad stuff. It wasn’t for holiday nights. You both wanted to enjoy what you had now, and you were surprised to see how easy he was to talk to, how he was interested in things you said, how expressive his eyes were when you were at the peak of a funny story and how he heartily laughed at almost every joke.</p><p> </p><p>He went a bit harder on his drinks than you, and he was slightly tipsy when you let out an uncontrolled yawn. </p><p>“Seems it’s time to hit the bed …” he laughed at you.</p><p>He was so beautiful like that. Head carelessly leaning on a random cushion, body relaxed and lazy, eyes glistening in the dim light.</p><p>You cheeks flushed with heat as he mentioned the word“ bed” . You looked around instinctively and he stood up .</p><p>“ Guest room” he pointed at a closed door. You almost let out a sigh of relief; at least you were saved from the discomfort of sleeping in the living room or worse, the embarrassment of seeing him insisting on leaving his bedroom for you.</p><p>He opened the door for you and excused himself for a moment. The room was less warm than the living room and looked like it hadn’t served for a while. But a king-sized bed was placed in its center, and on the side a small table with a night light and books on it. You were about to open one when Charlie returned with clothes and a blanket.</p><p>“ Seems <span class="u">like </span>you’re interested more in my books than sleeping?”</p><p>“ I’m exploring”</p><p>“ I see that” he said, lending you the clothes and the blanket.</p><p>“ Thank you”</p><p>“ It’s nothing” he stilled for a brief moment looking at.. your hands?</p><p>“ Those are mine…the clothes,  sorry I have nothing else.” He scratched the back of his neck.</p><p>You looked at your hands too, that were holding his clothes and this time, you were sure your blush was more than noticeable.</p><p>“ Ow”</p><p>“ Hope they will do”</p><p>Of course, they will, yeah, because you were exactly the same size as that hulking man. Exactly the same.</p><p> “ Thank you”</p><p>You looked up at him, the man you’ve always fancied. Was it you or was he hesitating to leave? You hoped he stayed, you hoped so much when in the span of a second or two, he looked like he was about to step up toward you, but he didn’t, and he just walked to the door instead.</p><p>“ Good night Charlie”</p><p>“ Good night y/n” and as he closed the door, your heart missed a beat.</p><p>He left you there, a buzzing mess of feelings and hope and frustration. How could you sleep that night? Just how, when you spent like five minutes staring at his clothes on your lap? </p><p>But you had to do something at last, so you just unfolded the night clothes, his grey sweat shirt, maybe the tightest one he got, his also grey sweatpants…oh wait, he even got you warm socks. You smiled to yourself.  His clothes felt like something precious in your hand, you couldn’t help but inhale their scent. They smelled like fresh laundry and something else. Like him?</p><p>The pants were too large to fit your small waist and you just decided to sleep with only the  sweatshirt and the socks on, so you snuggled in the bed and pulled the blanket on you as you inhaled deeply, cuddling an extra pillow.</p><p>Sleep played on your eyelids but you rapidly felt a more urgent need. You hadn’t visited the bathroom the whole day, and after many attempts to suppress your urgent needs ( because you didn’t ask Charlie where his bathroom was and the last thing you wanted to do is to search the whole apartment for the bathroom door at risk of waking him up and facing another hard test) you just knew you couldn’t hold it anymore and risked your way out your room.</p><p>Relief washed over you because it seemed that Charlie never closed any door in his apartment and you spotted the bathroom fast. You intended to make your journey very quick as the cold bit your exposed legs, but on your way back you noticed, through the open door of his bedroom, the shape of him sleeping soundly.</p><p>You could swear your legs led you there on their own will. And against your better judgement, against every rational thought you had, you found yourself watching him as he lay on his bed, in his white sleeping  tee, head buried in his pillows, hair spread on it as a dark halo. He looked like a child. As pure, as peaceful as a child. You made small steps toward him, small silent steps. You just wanted that moment to last. You didn’t want him to wake up, you didn’t want to go back to your room.</p><p>So you just slipped in. You slipped in his bed and hoped stupidly that he wouldn’t wake up.</p><p>But he did wake up.</p><p>And you were still there, looking and looking and looking at him. Right there, too close, wearing only his loose sweatshirt and socks that were too large for you.</p><p>And here he was too, frowning, sleepy incredulous eyes looking right back at you.</p><p>You couldn’t apologize and you couldn’t invent any stupid reason for you being there, in his bed, because there was nothing to apologize for and nothing to invent. You were completely caught in the act. </p><p>You waited, paralyzed. Heart jumping in your chest for his reaction, for his rejection. You though he was going to throw the blanket off his body and jump out of bed and be angry, and be hacked off and confused then mad as hell. But he didn’t.</p><p>He lifted up his blanket just a little, and looked up at you with inviting expectant eyes.  With those soulful eyes that always conveyed too much. And your heart skipped several beats and your breath was a complete mess. And at that moment you just needed a breathing tutorial. But he invited you under his covers, close to his heart, and his warmth immediately reached all ofyour body, and you relaxed, and you didn’t know why.</p><p>No you shouldn’t be that relaxed. You should freak out and cry and shudder and feel too much but you just relaxed. And as he closed his eyes without a word, as his steady hot breath caressed your hair regularly, as he let you nestle your head in his neck and brought up the covers on both of you, you just felt at the right place. In your own place. And like that, you both slept all night.</p><p> </p><p>In the morning, you felt his fingers running through your hair waking you up. He gave you a panicked look when you looked up at him, eyes pools of concern.</p><p>“ Good morning” it was a chocked whisper.</p><p>“ Good morning” you mumbled, still half asleep.</p><p>“Is …is this ok?”</p><p>You nodded in the crook of his chest. He was so warm.</p><p>You stayed like that for a while, seconds feeling like hours, fast heartbeats and hot breaths.</p><p>“ If somebody had told me that I’d wake up in my …in your bed on Christmas morning, I’d laugh in their face”</p><p>He frowned, indecisive features.</p><p>Should he laugh at that? Should he be mad? What are you for him to allow such reaction? What is he for you? What were you for each other in this cold Christmas morning? What were you meaning? That it was a mistake? Or was it a joke? God, he didn’t know you after all.</p><p>He fidgeted in his sheets and you almost followed his movement, craving his warmth.</p><p>Silence again. You couldn’t tell if it was early or late morning. The frail grey light made its way through cracks of his curtains, snow light, and you shivered. You could tell he was still sleepy trying to get his brain to work for you.</p><p>“ I’m not your boss” he finally said.</p><p>“ I …didn’t –“</p><p>“ That’s what you were about to say”</p><p>His fingers were always tracing gentle circles on the expanse of your scalp. You were still numb enough from sleep to acknowledge what they were starting to make you feel.</p><p>You stayed silent. Why was it so hard to speak all of a sudden, to the man you spent all the previous night talking to.</p><p>“And you were the one who sneaked in my bed in the middle of the night” he added.</p><p>You could recognize a hint of playfulness in his voice, but you wanted to be sure he wasn’t blaming you for it and looked up again. A tiny smile played on his lips, twitching their unique shape. His little scars on the side were more visible like that. You were fond of them.</p><p>“ It was cold” you said simply.</p><p>“ You could have asked me for an extra blanket”</p><p>“ You were asleep”</p><p>“ Yeah, you spoiled it anyway”</p><p>“Why would I need blankets when I can have a personal heater right in the next room”</p><p>That was risky. But it took one look to understand that he was teasing you and to decide to play along with him.</p><p>You could hear his deep laugh rumbling in his chest.</p><p>You snuggled a bit more into him. You knew he was being playful now. He wasn’t bothered; your bold move in the middle of the night didn’t bother him. He had enjoyed sleeping next to you that night. Just as much as you did. Was that even possible?</p><p>“ A personal heater you say”</p><p>Just the day before he was Mr. Barber.</p><p>“ Well.. this escalated quickly.” You said sheepishly.</p><p>“ This escalated very quickly” he repeated in a quiet voice and wrapped his arms around you.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>